Delete old WhatsApp contacts: they can impersonate someone else to trick you.

WhatsApp is the most widely used instant messaging app in Spain. That means millions of Spaniards communicate through it, something cybercriminals try to take advantage of by launching scam attempts. There are several ways we can be scammed on WhatsApp , and one of them involves not deleting old contacts.

If we have a lot of contacts and some of them are people we haven't spoken to in years, they may have changed their numbers and we don't know it . That is, those we've contacted before may have changed numbers and be people you don't know, which could cause you some privacy issues.

Scammers hire these numbers

Many carriers may reuse numbers that previously belonged to other people , and this can be for several reasons: from the person canceling it or because the carrier itself has simply deactivated it, which means that a number from one of your contacts may belong to someone you don't know .

For example, these numbers can also be used by scammers , and they may be one of your old contacts . They can suddenly open a conversation with you and open the door to identity theft . On WhatsApp, this number will appear with the name of the contact you had previously saved.

Even if you've never spoken to them, your phone will display the contact's name, which could easily be a friend or family member , and which now belongs to someone you don't know. So, if someone you know tells you they're changing their number, it's best to delete that number and add the new one to avoid any problems .

The best thing you can do

But the best way to avoid problems is to clean up your address book from time to time to delete those numbers you didn't even remember you had , thus avoiding any of the problems we mentioned above. This is like deleting old photos you didn't even remember you had and no longer need to free up space, but moved to your contacts.